Five Years
by serenelystrange
Summary: The team never got back together after the David fiasco... this is set Five Years later. I know, my title is just so incredibly creative, lol. Hope you like it, :D So... now its really done and complete! Five chapters later, lol.
1. Chapter 1

A/N – For this fic, Ive decided that the team never got back together after the first season finale. This takes place about five years later.

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Eliot stopped short in front of the playground he was walking by. He gripped the chain link fence and peered up to the top of the little yellow slide where she perched. He felt a little bit like a creep, staring at a little girl, but she looked so familiar that he couldn't help himself. Try as he might, he couldn't place the girl's face. Sighing, Eliot shook his head and decided to forget about the girl, but then she looked up, right at him, and his breath hitched. He may not know who the girl was, but he sure knew the smile on her face. He shook his head again, it wasn't possible. It had been five years since he'd seen any of them, what were the chances of just running into them in some random California suburb? Running his fingers quickly through his only mildly shaggy hair, he headed home.

Three days later, Eliot saw the girl again. This time, she was wobbling her way down the candy aisle at the grocery store, no parent in sight. Eliot froze, unsure of whether to approach the girl and help her find her parents, or to just leave her alone. She was no older than three, and shouldn't be left alone, but he knew that mothers hardly reacted kindly to some stranger scooping up their child, even if it was only to return them. As it turned out, he didn't need to make a decision after all. The little girl spotted him and gave him a flash of that all too familiar grin before running full speed toward him and attacking his legs in a fierce hug. Startled, Eliot dropped the bag of apples he'd been holding to ground, and watched with a sort of detached concern as the bag broke open and apples rolled down the aisle. Before he could even react to the clinging girl, a woman's voice broke through his haze and it did not sound happy. But it did sound familiar.

"Hey! What do you think you're do…. Oh." She stopped suddenly as she took in the sight of Eliot and the little girl wrapped around him.

"Parker," Eliot nodded in greeting, not sure how else to begin, "Is she yours?" he asked as he lifted the girl up easily in one arm. She just smiled toothily at him and mumbled something that sounded a lot like his name.

Parker nodded and smiled at the sight even as she reached out to take the girl back, and Eliot couldn't believe he hadn't put two and two together before. That smile, that little girl, there was no way she wasn't Parker's. He appraised Parker silently, noting the changes, and the unmistakable similarities. Her hair was shorter and somehow lighter than it had been before. He supposed California sun would do that to a person. She was older, but she hardly looked it, the only indication being the slight wrinkles beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. Eliot smiled when he noticed her eyes. They still had the mischievous glint he remembered so well, but he couldn't see a trace of the sadness that he remembered.

Parker appraised Eliot as well, even as she knew he was looking at her. She found herself surprised to think that he looked younger, somehow, than the last time she'd seen him. It had been five years, he should look older, but he didn't.

"Her name is Lainey," Parker offered, nudging the girl to wave at Eliot. Instead, she shook her head, bouncing her dark curls all around, before burying her face in Parker's neck. Parker just laughed.

"Now she's shy?" Eliot laughed, "Not two seconds ago she was clinging to my leg."

Parker shrugged, "She recognized you." Lainey yawned widely, slumping against Parker even more. Rolling her eyes fondly at the girl, Parker bent down and buckled the girl securely in the stroller she had placed beside her. Within moments, Lainey was fast asleep.

Eliot was still mulling over Parker's last statement, "How did she recognize me? I haven't seen any of you in five years. Sophie's sent a few postcards over the years, but I haven't heard from you at all, and then Nate.."

"Yeah," Parker interrupted a pained looked flashing across her face, "I didn't know until weeks later, when Sophie finally tracked us down. We were at Disney World, of all places. I can't believe it's already been a year."

Eliot nodded, "I was in Berlin. I tried to get back in time for the funeral, but I didn't make it. After everything that happened, I never thought it'd be a heart attack. He was too young. I got to the funeral an hour too late, and I just couldn't go in."

"It was rough. We went," Parker smiled grimly, "Sophie was there, she was a wreck. She spent most of the time clinging to Hardison, trying not to cry."

"Hardison?" Eliot looked up with interest, "You've kept in touch?"

Parker actually laughed out loud as the somber mood broke. She rolled her eyes as she gestured to the sleeping Lainey, "Well, yeah."

Eliot would never admit it, but his jaw actually dropped. "Hold on," he paused to process, "Lainey is you and _Hardison's _daughter? You and Hardison? Had a baby. Together. The two of you. Wow."

"We did," Parker smiled before lifting her hand to show Eliot the shiny ring on her finger.

"And you got married?!" Eliot couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. He never would have expected Parker getting married, even if she did finally admit to liking Hardison. But here they were, five years later, and Parker and Hardison were married, and they had a baby. Just when he thought the world couldn't surprise him anymore.

"What about you?" Parker interrupted, and he found himself smiling at the familiar rudeness, "What have you been doing all this time?"

Eliot shrugged, "A little bit of everything. But I'm legit now, on most days." He grinned at her, unable to hide the familiar rush that came with the thought of behaving badly.

"Us too," Parker agreed, "Most days." She gave him a devious grin of her own.

"You should come over soon," she continued, "Hardison will be so excited to see you! He's still a geek."

"Alright," Eliot agreed,"

Parker nodded before launching herself at Eliot, very much like Lainey had, and wrapping him in a tight hug. Startled but not unhappy, Eliot squeezed her back, surprised to see how happy he was at the familiar scent of Parker. And then she pulled away, still grinning, and moved to leave with the sleeping Lainey.

"We'll call you," she promised, and the smile turned into something resembling the smirk he remembered. And then she was gone.

"How will you.." Eliot began to the empty air before stopping himself. Hardison. That was all that needed to be said.

It wasn't until three aisles later that he realized his wallet was gone. "Damn it, Parker!" he growled, much to the amusement of the other patrons. But even as he cursed the thief, he couldn't help the swelling feeling in his chest that felt suspiciously like coming home.


	2. One Step Closer

A/N – OK, so I didn't intend to continue this story, honestly. But it just sort of happened. So I bring you this, and there will probably be another chapter up tomorrow. Just to recap: this goes AU after the 1st season finale. Hope you like. This is a dialogue heavy chapter, and some of it is sad, but its setting up the happy to come, so have no fear. I haven't lost my love of happy endings.

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"It's not what I expected."

Parker looked up from her perch on the chair of her sofa, casting Eliot a quizzical glance, "What isn't? The house?"

Eliot nodded, his hair just long enough to still get in his eyes, "That, and everything else." He paused to survey the room from his seat in the recliner, "It's so… homey."

Parker shrugged, "It's home, it should be homey." She wrinkled her nose at the saccharine words, but smiled anyway.

Eliot was stopped from replying by the entrance of a familiar and yet altogether different man.

"Hey, El. How you been, man?" Hardison grinned in that easy way of his and the tension was gone. Eliot stood to meet the man in the middle of the living room, unsure of how to greet him. Deciding a handshake was the best route, he reached out his arm, only to be tugged into a tight but brief hug by the taller man. He fought the smile that threatened to appear. Eliot was a citizen now, honest, but he did have his pride. Instead he took a step back to look at Hardison. He seemed impossibly taller, but he was still Hardison. Maybe his face had rounded out a little bit and the wire rimmed glasses were new, but the hacker was still the boy Eliot remembered. A man now, Eliot reminded himself, was always a man, even then, he just hadn't noticed, realized it, until they were gone and Eliot was alone, again.

"I've been alright, man," Eliot responded to the beaming Hardison, "I still can't believe you and Parker…"

"Right?!" Hardison interrupted, joy evident in his expression, "I still don't believe it sometimes. I thought I'd never see any of you again. And now, five years later…" he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.

"Five years later," Eliot agreed, nodding, "You're a real goddamn family. Baby and everything."

"You're not supposed to cuss here!" Parker chided from the couch where she was reading to Lainey.

Eliot snorted, "That doesn't count, does it?" Hardison just rolled his eyes and ignored the banter.

"It's fine," Hardison dismissed the argument with a wave of his hand, "So why are you in Cali, man? Never took you for a beach bum."

Eliot paused, trying to figure out how to explain his decision. Problem was, he didn't fully understand it himself.

"I, I got tired," he finally settled on, sighing and sinking back into the recliner. Hardison sat himself on the other side of the couch, tickling Lainey's feet absently as Parker continued to read, the sound a pleasant white noise. He looked at Eliot as if to say "please, do go on," so Eliot did.

"I don't know. I'm nearly 40 years old, and I just couldn't do it anymore. I got beaten down too many times." Hardison interrupted with an quiet admission, "I always thought you were Superman, or at least Batman, cause he's just a guy, you know? No superpowers, just strength and smarts and guts.." he trailed off, embarrassed.

Eliot smirked but decided not to tease the man and instead continued his story, "It got harder and harder to heal, to stay sharp. I would've gotten myself killed if I kept it up like I had been. After a while, it wasn't even fun anymore. Not that getting kicked at was ever fun, but the rush wasn't worth it anymore. But I kept going. And then after Nate," Eliot hated the way his throat caught, still, but paused for only a second, "After Nate died, I just gave up trying."

His words were cut off by Parker announcing she and Lainey were going to the park. She scooped up the girl and bent to kiss Hardison softly before heading to the door, brushing Eliot's hair lightly as she passed by. He smiled despite himself.

The door clicked shut, shaking the men back into their conversation. "She doesn't like talking about Nate," Hardison explained, in a voice that made it clear he had learned from experience.

Eliot nodded, deep in thought, before speaking again, "How did Sophie know about Nate?"

Hardison smiled ruefully, "She found him, in bed, the morning he died. They lived together. Imagine that? Took them over ten years to get together, and all they got was a few months together. I never saw Sophie so broken. She loved him so damn much."

"And he loved her," Eliot's comment came out more question than he cared to admit, but Hardison always had been a good listener.

"As much as he could. More than anything else, anyway. He quit drinking, you know?" Hardison replied.

Eliot shook his head, "I didn't know. Always thought it'd be the drinking that killed him, not some fucking heart attack. It ain't right," his voice rose with anger as he thought about it.

Hardison just nodded, the same thoughts had gone through his head a million times before, "He deserved better."

"Where's Sophie these days?" Eliot asked abruptly, trying to soften the somber mood of the conversation.

Hardison broke into a real grin at the question, "She's in L.A. She's a real actress. Well, a soap opera actress, but still, she doesn't suck. At least, no worse than the other actors on the show. She plays a forty-something former beauty queen/ dance instructor. It's pretty great."

Eliot snorted, "You watch the show?"

"Of course I watch the show. Me and Parker have seen every episode since Sophie joined. Well, since Anna Belle joined."

"Anna Belle? Seriously?" Eliot couldn't help but laugh, "She calls herself Anna Belle now?"

Hardison nodded, "We still call her Sophie. She comes by sometimes. Lainey loves her, thinks she's a princess."

Eliot laughed at the image, though he supposed Sophie would look like a princess to a young girl. There always was something about her.

He looked up suddenly and Hardison saw something in Eliot's expression he couldn't remember ever seeing, uncertainty.

"Think she'd wanna see me?" Eliot murmured, mostly to himself.

Hardison just laughed, "Of course she wants to see you, dumbass. She still thinks you hate her, she'd love to know you don't."

"I don't," Eliot confirmed, "I never hated her. I was just so… angry. Angrier than called for probably, but I was. I waited, you know, for a while, for you guys. I always hoped I'd get that call from Nate, and we'd be back to bringing down the assholes of the world. But, you know the rest."

"Call never came," Hardison nodded, "I waited too, for a while. But then Parker found me. After a while, we stopped waiting and moved on."

"And now it's too late," Eliot sighed, "But it's alright. Things aren't too bad, considering. Nobody shoots at me anymore at least." He gave Hardison a crooked grin.

"It's never too late," Hardison argued, eyes lighting up with an idea.

"But…Nate," Eliot began, but got cut off again by Hardison.

"Nate would love this idea," Hardison was practically jumping in his seat at the idea.

Eliot just stared, suddenly remembering what a scary idea it could be to let Hardison think. And with years of Parker's influence, it could only have gotten even scarier.

"We're going to L.A.!" Hardison declared; face resolving in an expression that held no room for argument. "Parker won't mind staying home with Lainey for a few days. You and me, man, road trip."

Eliot groaned and dropped his head into his hands. He should've known.

Hardison just laughed, "Sophie, here we come!"

TBC


	3. Let's Take a Drive

A/N – So apparently this is going to be longer than I thought, lol. I hope you all stick around for the ride. And bear in mind, a "long" story for me means maybe 3 more chapters at the most. I have no patience for more. And I update quick, so bear with me,  Hope you like this chapter! And yes, the title is shamelessly stolen from a Christian Kane song.

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CH 3 – Let's Take a Drive

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Hardison's car was exactly what Eliot had imagined, black and sleek and shiny and more technologically advanced than he was sure was necessary, but it fit the Hardison he remembered to a t, and he was glad to know at least one thing hadn't changed. Laughing to himself, Eliot settled into the passenger seat, admitting the car was as comfortable as it was flashy.

Parker hadn't minded staying home with Lainey, though she made Hardison promise to steal something from the prop supply, just for old time's sake. Hardison had agreed without hesitation and Eliot wondered if the man would ever stop loving her as much as he did. He hoped not.

"Drive's about an hour," Hardison explained as they got out onto the road, "Maybe forty-five minutes if we don't hit too much traffic."

Eliot snorted, "L.A."

"True," Hardison conceded. They were sure to hit traffic.

The first few minutes of the ride went by in peaceful silence, both men lost in thought. After a few minutes, Eliot switched on the radio, settling on a classic rock station. Hardison cast him a sideways glance, but said nothing, instead surprising Eliot by humming along to "More Than A Feeling" by Boston. The incredulous look Eliot gave him was reward enough for losing control of the radio.

Around minute 27, Hardison gave in and clicked the radio off before rambling out the thoughts that had been building since he'd seen Eliot again. "What happened, man? I mean, why are you here? What do you do now? Why'd the hell you come to California, of all places? What have you been doing for the past five years? When'd you cut your hair?" he took a deep breath before practically whispering the last question, "why didn't you call?"

Eliot smiled fleetingly, amused and annoyed that Hardison still had the habit of speaking in run on sentences. "I told you why I quit. And now, I don't really do anything, job wise. I have enough money, still. I've had enough since the first job."

"Well, I _am_ damn good," Hardison couldn't help but interrupt.

Eliot cuffed him quickly upside the head before responding, "The best. And so humble, too." Hardison rubbed his head instinctively, though Eliot hadn't even hurt him.

"Anyway," Eliot continued with his story, "The past five years. I did what I used to, before the team. Sought. Found. Retrieved. Got Paid. The end. Over and over. Different places, different people, but it was all the same. Jerk offs backstabbing other jerk offs, and all the shit that goes with it. I got sick of it. And then like I told you, after Nate died, I stopped trying to be who I was before. "

Hardison nodded, silent. Eliot sensed the next question before Hardison could speak, "Cut the hair about a year ago, when I stopped moving so much."

"Stopped running," Hardison's comment held no question. Eliot just nodded before continuing.

"I ended up here by accident. There was this girl, I.."

"Ha! I knew it was a girl! I told Parker, "girl, I bet he followed some long legged blonde to L.A., and moved to the suburbs once she kicked him to the curb after she got her big acting break," Hardison interrupted again, gleefully.

Eliot scowled, "She wasn't an actress. She's a model."

"Bet she's blonde though."

"Shut up."

Hardison just laughed before waving Eliot on. Eliot rolled his eyes but went on, "Yeah, so after that went up in smoke... I ended up here. It wasn't going to be for more than a few weeks, but I don't know, I just ended up staying. Didn't think I'd run into you."

"Tell me about it," Hardison agreed, shaking his head with the still somewhat disbelief.

They rode again in silence, until Hardison pulled up to Sophie's apartment building. Eliot eyed the building warily, nerves bundling inside him, a fear he wouldn't admit to.

"I was afraid," he growled out the words, sounding as if it caused him physical pain to say them.

Hardison look over at him, confused, "What?"

Eliot sighed, "I was afraid," he repeated, slightly less growly, "That's why I didn't call."

Hardison nodded, understanding, "We all were."

Eliot gave a curt nod before ambling out of the car before he could change his mind. Sending a quick prayer for help to his Nana, Hardison locked the car and followed the former hitter into the building.

TBC


	4. Maybe

A/N – So there will be two more chapters at the most. Hope you like this one, 

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Ch 4 - Maybe

The climb up to Sophie's third floor condo was spent in silence, Eliot's steady footsteps feeling heavier and heavier as they went. They reached the door and Eliot instinctively moved to the wall, outside of view of the peephole. Hardison rolled his eyes while knocking, secretly glad that not all of Eliot's hitter instincts had disappeared. He stepped back as the door opened, and Eliot pressed tighter into the wall.

"Hardison!" Sophie's voice was as warm as Eliot remembered, but different too. He couldn't decide what was different, it nagged in the back of his head, but he pushed it further back for the moment.

"Is everything ok?" Sophie continued, and Eliot imagined she was leaning against the doorframe, eyes wide with concern. Hardison, in a move that would've have gotten him punched five years ago, decided enough was enough and yanked Eliot as hard as he could, away from the wall and into Sophie's line of sight.

Eliot stared for a long moment, taking her in, before offering a small smile. "Hey, Sophie."

Sophie's mouth dropped for a second, eyes darting between Hardison and Eliot, as if not sure if she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. Eliot made to reach out to her, touch her arm, but pulled back hastily as Sophie promptly burst into tears. He jumped back as if burned, glaring at Hardison with a look of anger and regret and a dash of 'I told you so.' Hardison just shook his head at all the foolishness around him and led Sophie inside, pulling Eliot along behind him. Eliot, despite all his better judgments, followed.

The moment the door clicked shut, Hardison found himself none too subtly pushed aside and Eliot found himself with a chest full of crying Sophie. She didn't hug him, just tucked her arms to herself and pressed into him. Unsure of what else to do, Eliot wrapped her in a tight hug, smiling when her arms snaked down to wrap around his middle.

When Sophie finally pulled away, her face was red and streaked with tears, and Eliot thought he'd never seen her look so beautiful. All at once, the reason her voice sounded different to him clicked, and he understood. She hadn't been acting. He felt like he was meeting the real Sophie for the first time.

"I thought you were dead," Sophie's voice broke on the last word, as she wiped the tears from her face.

Eliot was stunned, "Why? I've taken care of myself this long."

"I figured that was the only reason you didn't come to the funeral," Sophie explained, moving to sit cross-legged on the couch, motioning for the men to follow. Eliot sat across from her as Hardison excused himself to use the bathroom. "I know I talked to you, told you about it, but I thought something must have happened before you could get back, why else wouldn't you be there?" she continued, and Eliot didn't miss the question.

Running a hand through his hair, he tried his best to explain, "I got there too late. Everybody was gone. And I couldn't face you all, not after everything, so I just left."

Sophie nodded, processing the information, before her face split into a wide grin, "I'm so happy to see you!"

Eliot just grinned back, "So tell me about Ms. Anna Belle."

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After hours of catching up and promises of future plans, Hardison and Eliot headed back home. The drove in silence again until once again Hardison couldn't stop the words from blurting out. "I told you it wouldn't be so bad!" he pointed out. Eliot just scowled, hating to admit the once and possibly still hacker was right. So he changed the subject.

"So what the hell do you and Parker do for a living if you're not out saving the world?" Genuine curiosity broke through the mock annoyance.

Hardison laughed, "We got money. We don't need to work. But we… do jobs once in a while. If we come across a situation that needs some help. We don't want to get rusty, after all. Plus, you remember what Parker's like if she gets bored too long. Girl needs a rush once in a while."

"Y'all still do jobs? Like we used to?" Eliot asked incredulously. The notion seemed incomprehensible to him.

"Not exactly the same, but yeah, same idea. Modified for two people of course. And Parker, man, she's gotten so much better at the whole acting thing. Sophie'd be proud. Hell, Sophie is proud. She helped out on the last one, but it's getting harder to use her around here… people are starting to recognize her." Hardison chuckled at the last bit, finding it funny that Sophie's acting was impeded by her acting.

Eliot leaned back in the seat, thinking over this new information. Maybe he wasn't as broken down as he liked to think. Maybe he wasn't a washed up former hitter, trying to fade into the background. Maybe he was just waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. Closing his eyes, he smirked at the thoughts swarming through his head. Just maybe that opportunity was now.

TBC


	5. OK

A/N – This is the last chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Ch 5 – O.K.

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"You know, we own the house next door."

Eliot looked up at Hardison, more than a little confused at the sometimes hacker's random outburst. Lainey babbled in two year old displeasure as she lost Eliot's attention. Smirking, Eliot looked back down long enough to stick his tongue at the little girl, who retorted by giving his hair a sharp tug, giggling in a very Parker-like way at the annoyance on Eliot's face. Shaking his head in mock helplessness, Eliot plopped the child onto the floor, where she immediately wandered off to press buttons on her daddy's shiny laptop. Eliot laughed; she was definitely Hardison and Parker's child.

Parker materialized out of nowhere, as she usually did, and leaned back against Hardison, who wrapped an arm around her waist casually. The pair looked down at Eliot expectantly, Hardison with his goofy grin and Parker with a guarded look but hopeful eyes.

Eliot didn't bother hiding his confusion and annoyance, "What in the hell are you talking about?"

Parker sighed, "You're dumb," she addressed Eliot before stage whispering to Hardison, "He's dumb!" Eliot merely scowled.

Hardison leaned his forehead into Parker's hair, praying for serenity to accept the fools he could not change. And when did he become the adult, anyway. How did that happen? A delighted laugh from his daughter from the general vicinity of the computer gave him his answer.

Hardison raised his head to look at Eliot again, speaking slowly, "We. Own. The. House. Next Door."

Eliot growled and stood to face the taller man, "So. What?"

"Dumb!" Parker whispered, giggling when Hardison smacked at her hands.

"You're here all the time," Hardison pointed out to the still scowling Eliot.

"And again, so what?"

"Hey, man, we love it, don't get me wrong. The past few months have been great. And Lainey loves you, but I'm just saying, we own the house next door."

"It used to be a firehouse, there's even a pole!" Parker contributed eagerly, a bit of the old glint in her eyes.

Finally, Eliot understood. "Y'all want me to move… next door?"

"About time," Parker murmured just loud enough to elicit another glare from the now slightly less confused man.

"Yes, we want you to move next door, man. No rent or anything," Hardison shrugged, as if it was nothing.

"And the pole is great for when you bring," Parker paused to whisper the word, "_hookers_ home."

Hardison couldn't help but laugh at the look of shock on Eliot's face before he responded just low enough that Lainey couldn't hear, "I don't bring home hookers, Parker!"

"Mmmhm," Parker hummed, grinning.

Hardison gave Eliot an appraising look, "Maybe you should," he suggested, only half jokingly, "You're all… tense."

Eliot glared, "I'm not tense, Hardison, I'm annoyed. There's a difference."

"guywhoneedstogetlaidsayswhat" Parker mumbled quickly, glancing everywhere but on Eliot's face.

"What?" Eliot exclaimed, annoyance growing to outright aggravation as Hardison and Parker dissolved into very girly giggles.

Hardison just shrugged, "Dude, you fell for that! Come on!"

Realizing what had happened, Eliot's aggravation melted into mere annoyance again, "Oh, grow up," he muttered to the annoyingly happy couple. They just beamed back at him in response.

A knock sounded on the door, breaking the little moment.

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Parker went to answer it and stepped back to let Sophie in. Sophie grinned over at Eliot for just a moment before she was tackled by an excited toddler calling out, "Fi-Fi!" Sophie grinned widely at the girl, scooping her up to rest on her hip. Closing the door behind her, she walked over to the others, standing once again in the middle of the living room.

"So did you tell him?" Sophie addressed Parker, who rolled her eyes.

"We're trying," she explained, leaning in to whisper, "He's kind of dumb."

Sophie sighed, "Parker, calling Eliot he's dumb is no way to get him to agree."

"Agree to what?" Eliot demanded just as Hardison was saying, "We haven't actually got to that part yet…"

"Oh," Sophie said, stopping her speech short.

"You're in on this? Whatever this is?" Eliot turned his full attention to Sophie, who visibly buckled under the stare. She'd forgotten how persuasive Eliot could be without even trying.

"It's a good thing!" Sophie defended, "These two were supposed to explain it better."

"That didn't go so well," Hardison sighed, reaching out to tickled Lainey's foot, causing Sophie to swat his hand when the little girl kicked her in response to the tickling.

Eliot stopped suddenly, the pieces clicking into place. He glanced at his friends around him, the four of them formed a semi-circle, with one space open, leading to the door. He looked at them, one by one, needing to laugh as they nodded their encouragement.

"You want to work together again? Is that right?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Very much so!" Sophie sounded happier than he could remember.

Hardison and Parker just nodded in a creepy synchronized motion. Eliot stared into the empty space between himself and Sophie, lost in memories.

"It won't be the same," he cautioned, "Not without Nate." He regretted the words a moment later when Sophie flinched at Nate's name. But she surprised him by being the first to respond.

"Of course not," she reached out and clasped his shoulder briefly, "But we can still do some good, and have some fun. Nate and I used to talk about it, you know, before. We had so many plans, we," her voiced cracked on the last word and she stopped talking, throat constricting.

Lainey hugged Sophie harder, tucking her head into Sophie's neck, sensing her distress. Sophie rubbed the girl's back absently, taking the comfort.

"We'll do it for Nate," Parker shrugged, as if it was obvious.

"He's the reason for all this anyway," Hardison agreed, looking to Sophie and Eliot. Sophie sniffled and nodded her agreement.

"That leaves you," Eliot looked up again at Sophie's words. "We need you," she continued, "Who else could protect us? Especially those two." She gestured at Parker and Hardison with her eyes.

Eliot laughed softly, "So you just want me for my muscle? Can't you just hire some meathead off the street?"

Hardison rolled his eyes, "Man, you _are_ dumb! We need you. Not your damn muscles. You're part of this team."

"That wasn't ni-ice" Parker sing-songed, smirking. Sophie muttered to herself about ridiculous children and Eliot couldn't help but smile.

"Ok," he nodded, looking around at his former and once again teammates.

"Ok?" Sophie questioned with careful hope.

"Ok," Eliot confirmed, shrugging.

"OK!" Hardison exclaimed, "To Leverage!" He raised an imaginary glass before taking an imaginary sip.

"To Nate," Parker raised her own imaginary glass, before accidentally spilling it on Hardison, who wiped at his shirt. Sophie watched the exchange with bewilderment. "Something wrong with them," Eliot whispered to her, making her laugh outright.

"Let's get some real drinks," Hardison suggested, heading to the kitchen. Sophie followed with Lainey, still chuckling.

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Parker and Eliot stood facing each other, and it occurred to Eliot for all her changes, Parker was essentially still Parker, and he was glad for it.

"It's a good idea," she said, but it came out something like a question. She wandered to the closest wall, leaning her back against it, feeling the sturdiness.

Eliot came to stand beside her, bumping her shoulder with his own briefly, "It is."

She smiled over at him, and Eliot couldn't help but smile back before pushing off the wall and heading towards the others in the kitchen.

Parker watched him go, her wide grin fading into something softer. Her quietly spoken words to the empty room felt a lot like closure, "OK."

THE END

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A/N – And that's all, folks. This was supposed to be a oneshot… and here we are, five chapters later. I had fun, hope you did too! Reviews are love.


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